HELVOIRT.- TEFAF announced Wim Pijbes as Global Chairman of Vetting for TEFAF, a newly created role established in line with the organizations developing vetting protocols. Pijbes, emeritus general director at the Rijksmuseum, takes over from Henk van Os who chaired the vetting committees at TEFAF Maastricht, and will chair the vetting across all three TEFAF Fairs (TEFAF Maastricht, TEFAF New York Spring and TEFAF New York Fall). This announcement comes as the vetting committees for TEFAF Maastricht are recalibrated to ensure that only experts with as little commercial interest in the art market as possible are included as voting members.

As outlined earlier, following a review of legal issues relating to vetting, specifically good governance and assessment of liability, TEFAF’s Executive Committee has taken a policy decision that art dealers and auction house experts will no longer be voting members on TEFAF vetting committees. Henceforth, the voting members of the vetting committees will be composed of academics, curators, conservators, conservation scientists and independent scholars only.

TEFAF Maastricht’s vetting committees now comprise 180 experts across 28 vetting categories (excluding the scientific research team); these experts come from 114 different institutions and 14 countries worldwide. TEFAF is delighted to welcome 52 new experts to the vetting committees.

Whilst it is TEFAF’s global policy to remove commercial interest from the vetting procedures, it is also important to acknowledge the expertise held by art dealers and auction house experts. As such, where it is necessary to consult commercially interested parties in the vetting process, such individuals will have a non-voting role.

Of the vetting concept, TEFAFs new global chairman Wim Pijbes said “Art carries a value for collectors that is often more than financial. TEFAF is dedicated to delivering a transparent vetting process, that is diligent and thorough, and which engenders trust in collectors. We want to create an environment at TEFAF based on trust, transparency and truth, in which collectors are confident that the works of art they buy at TEFAF Fairs’ are authentic.”

Pijbes was recommended by TEFAF’s Global Vetting Steering Committee, who advised the EC to appoint him to the newly created role.